2 California women sentenced to time in prison for filing false federal tax returns

OAKLAND (KRON) – Two Oakland woman are sentenced to time in prison for filing false federal tax returns.

Prosecutors charged Oakland woman, Tanya Keith, 48, in a thirteen-count indictment on January 15, 2015, along with 48-year-old Oakland resident Cassandra Tompkins, 46-year-old Vacaville resident Cordia Spearman, and 52-year-old El Sobrate resident Damien Mitchell, with conspiracy to file false federal tax returns. Keith was also charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to prosecutors, in a plea agreement, Keith admitted that she and her co-conspirators used other people’s names and social security numbers to prepare false federal tax returns between January 15, 2011 and May 15, 2012.

The defendants claimed over $678,000 in tax refunds, of which the government paid out nearly $287,500 in actual returns, prosecutors said.

All four defendants pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge.

Federal court judge, James Donato, has sentenced Spearman to three years of probation, including six moths of electronic monitoring.

Mitchell’s sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

Tompkins has been sentenced to 20 months in prison.

In addition to Keith’s sentence of one year in prison, she will pay $19,944 in restitution, and serve three years of supervised release. She will begin serving her sentence on April 18, 2016.